John Koskinen, President Barack Obama’s choice to head the Internal Revenue Service, prepares to testify on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2013, before the Senate Finance Committee hearing on his nomination. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

John Koskinen, a corporate consultant and President Barack Obama’s choice to run the troubled Internal Revenue Service, was expected to face tough questions at a confirmation hearing Tuesday on topics ranging from tea-party targeting to the new health-care overhaul.

But barring some mishap, he appeared to be headed for a positive recommendation from the Senate Finance Committee, some Republicans said. The committee was not expected to vote on Mr. Koskinen on Tuesday.

As the committee hearing opened on Tuesday, Chairman Max Baucus (D., Mont.) urged lawmakers to make up their minds quickly about Mr. Koskinen. Mr. Baucus noted that Mr. Koskinen was nominated by Mr. Obama more than 130 days ago. Before this year, the longest any nominee for IRS commissioner had waited for confirmation was 100 days, Mr. Baucus said.

“He is the right person to take on this challenge, and with filing season approaching, the IRS needs its leader in place,” Mr. Baucus said.

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R., Utah), the top Republican on the panel, said he had hoped to postpone consideration of Mr. Koskinen until the Finance Committee had completed its investigation into targeting of tea-party groups for extra scrutiny by the IRS. Many of the groups were delayed for several years as they sought tax-exempt status from the agency, according to an inspector general’s report.

Mr. Hatch said he would seek assurances from Mr. Koskinen that the IRS would continue cooperating in the probe.

Mr. Koskinen flashed a bit of optimism in his opening statement, saying, “If confirmed, I look forward to working with you and your staffs to help make the IRS the most effective, well-run and admired agency in government.”

He emphasized the need to restore public trust.

Mr. Koskinen, 74 years old, has a history of working with both parties. He was a deputy director of the White House Office of Management and Budget under former President Bill Clinton, and also was chairman of the President’s Council on Year 2000 Conversion, which coordinated the government response to the so-called Y2K bug that many feared would damage the nation’s computer networks.

In 2008, during the administration of President George W. Bush, Mr. Koskinen became nonexecutive chairman of troubled mortgage giant Freddie Mac. He also briefly held executive positions at the government-sponsored enterprise. Previously he assisted in the turnarounds of the Penn Central Transportation Co. and a Teamsters pension fund.

If confirmed, Mr. Koskinen faces big challenges in improving the IRS’s reputation and morale. The agency has been embroiled in political controversy after an inspector general’s audit found the IRS targeted conservative and tea-party groups – a finding that some Democrats have criticized as one-sided. The IRS’s role as a regulator of campaign-finance rules has grown in recent years, multiplying the agency’s problems.

The IRS has largely avoided becoming a focus of Republican ire over the health-care overhaul’s balky rollout. But it has a central role in the government machinery, particularly in administering tax credits for people seeking coverage.

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